Tag: Book Blog

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The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith is a diabolically twisty psychological thriller

Mandy Webster

What if your sister disappeared one summer night—and then walked back into your life sixteen years later? The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith takes this premise and spins it into one of the most anxiety-inducing psychological thrillers I’ve read this year.

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The story follows Caitlin, whose older sister Olivia was abducted when they were children. When a woman claiming to be Olivia suddenly reappears, Caitlin should feel joy. Instead, her carefully rebuilt world begins to unravel piece by piece. The tension comes not only from the mystery of whether this is truly Olivia, but also from the way she manipulates every situation to Caitlin’s detriment.

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Joy Moody is Out of Time is a heartbreaking and layered novel about love, lies, and family

Mandy Webster

What happens when doing the wrong thing might actually be the most loving choice? That’s the central question at the heart of Joy Moody is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne, a novel that blends quirky crime with an emotionally complex family story.

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Behind the bubblegum-pink facade of Joyful Suds laundromat in Bayside, Australia, Joy Moody has been raising her twin daughters, Cassie and Andie, under a carefully constructed lie. For nearly twenty-one years, she’s told them a fantastical tale about their destiny, a story designed to protect them—but also one that has left them isolated from the world around them. When Joy is suddenly found dead on the twins’ twenty-first birthday, the truth unravels, and the girls are left to face a world they are utterly unprepared for.

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Other People’s Houses by Clare Mackintosh is a layered thriller of secrets, lies, and murder

Mandy Webster

When break-ins on a luxury English estate collide with a body discovered in a Welsh lake, Clare Mackintosh’s Other People’s Houses unravels into a gripping web of crime, corruption, and personal drama.

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The story begins with two separate investigations: in Cheshire, DS Leo Brady looks into a string of break-ins on The Hill, a posh community where people pay a premium for safety and exclusivity. Across the Welsh border, DC Ffion Morgan pulls the body of an estate agent from a lake. Neither case seems connected—until they are, and then things get complicated fast.

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The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes is folklore-infused horror at its finest

Mandy Webster

What happens when the dream of a family turns into something dark and uncanny? The Empty Cradle by Lisa Rookes blends psychological suspense, folklore, and magical realism into a story that unsettles you in the best possible way.

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The novel follows Amy, who has been going along with her husband Joel’s dream of starting a family—even though she’s never been completely sure motherhood is what she wants. Joel, more than Amy, is the one determined to have a child. But when she discovers he’s having an affair with her best friend, Amy flees to a dilapidated cottage in a Yorkshire village. Originally, she had bought the cottage with plans to flip it as a short-term rental, not to make it a home. Yet once she’s there, she begins to imagine that maybe she could create a life for herself in the village—if only the unsettling occurrences around her would stop.

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Why Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan is the best novel I’ve read so far in 2025

Mandy Webster

Every once in a while, a book comes along that completely captivates your imagination and refuses to let you go. Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan is that book for me—the #1 best novel I’ve read so far in 2025.

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Set against the stark, blistering backdrop of the Mexicali borderlands and the eerie Salton Sea, Salt Bones is a darkly lyrical story of mothers and daughters, folklore and truth, justice and horror. Malamar Veracruz has lived her whole life in El Valle, raising two daughters while carrying the pain of her sister Elena’s disappearance years ago. When another girl goes missing, Mal is thrust back into that old nightmare, haunted by visions of a horse-headed woman tied to local legend. But as Mal and her daughters uncover layer after layer of family secrets, folklore, and lies, the story reveals what women have always known: men are the destroyers, and the women who try to protect others are too often turned into monsters themselves.

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Why A Good Person by Kirsten King is one of the most entertaining debuts of the year

Mandy Webster

What happens when your ex-situationship suddenly dies after you hex him? In A Good Person by Kirsten King, the answer is pure chaos, hilarity, and narcissistic delusion.

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This book was absolutely hilarious. Kirsten King throws us headfirst into the brain of Lillian, a millennial antihero who is equal parts self-absorbed, delusional, and entertaining. Reading her inner monologue feels like being stuck at brunch with that one friend who always makes themselves the main character of every story—but in the best possible way, because you can safely laugh without being their victim.

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Haunted, cursed, and divided: exploring race and privilege in Del Sandeen’s This Cursed House

Mandy Webster

When Jemma Barker leaves 1960s Chicago for a new life in New Orleans, she doesn’t expect to uncover centuries-old curses, deadly family secrets, and the brutal realities of colorism and privilege. In This Cursed House, Del Sandeen takes readers into the dark, secret-laden corridors of a New Orleans family through the eyes of Jemma Barker, a young Black woman fleeing her life in Chicago. Desperate for a fresh start and haunted by the spirits she’s always been able to see, Jemma accepts a job with the enigmatic Duchon family—only to discover that their charm hides centuries-old curses and shocking prejudices.

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Sandeen’s debut is steeped in Southern gothic flair, with a plot that twists around supernatural secrets, family betrayal, and the fraught complexities of race. The novel does an especially striking job of exploring how white-passing Black characters navigate privilege and fear, often at the expense of their darker-skinned relatives. It’s a sharp and unsettling examination of racism, colorism, and the extremes some will go to protect a tenuous hold on societal acceptance.

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The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan is a chilling Appalachian mystery

Mandy Webster

Sometimes the scariest stories aren’t about monsters at all—they’re about the damage people do to one another, and the shadows those wounds cast long into adulthood. That’s the heart of The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan, a gripping mystery set in the mountains of North Carolina.

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Private investigator Annie Gore, a former Air Force special investigator, takes on a case that pulls her back into a world she thought she left behind: the Appalachian hollers where she grew up. Ten years earlier, three young girls vanished from a tiny mountain town. One returned, but the others were never found. Now, the brother of one of the missing hires Annie to uncover the truth. The case is cold, the town is closed off to outsiders, and the mountains are filled with both folklore and secrets—but Annie needs the money, so she can’t turn down the job.

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Made You Look by Tanya Grant turns influencer culture into a deadly game

Mandy Webster

A snowstorm, a retreat full of influencers, and a killer among them—Made You Look by Tanya Grant (on sale November 18, 2025) takes a sharp, unsettling look at what happens when image-driven lives collide with deadly reality.

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Sydney Kent is the star of the show—the influencer everyone wants to be or be with. But her friends and colleagues—Caitlyn, Lucy, Jeff, Nash, and Brent—aren’t just background players. They’re the professionals who make her shine, whether as photographers, stylists, or managers. When the group travels to a secluded Catskills retreat, it’s supposed to be an opportunity for fresh content and brand partnerships. Instead, a snowstorm traps them without Wi-Fi, cell service, or an escape route. That’s when the murders begin, and the real cracks in their “team” are forced into the open.

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Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez is a haunting epic of grief, power, and inheritance

Mandy Webster

Mariana Enriquez’s Our Share of Night is not an easy read—and that’s what makes it unforgettable. This sprawling, terrifying, and deeply layered novel moves through decades of Argentina’s history, entangling grief, family, colonialism, and the occult in ways that feel both intimate and vast.

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The novel begins with Juan and his six-year-old son Gaspar, reeling after the death of Rosario—Juan’s wife and Gaspar’s mother. They set out on a road trip to Rosario’s ancestral home, but this is no ordinary return to family. Rosario’s family belongs to The Order, a secretive cult that will stop at nothing in its pursuit of immortality. Their devotion is not to god or country, but to the Darkness, a supernatural force that demands unspeakable acts in exchange for power. Gaspar is their legacy, and Juan knows it.

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